Occupational risk factors for asthma among nurses and related healthcare professionals in an international study

Maria C. Mirabelli*, Jan Paul Zock, Estel Plana, Josep Maria Antó, Geza Benke, Paul D. Blanc, Anna Dahlman-Höglund, Deborah L. Jarvis, Hans Kromhout, Linnéa Lillienberg, Dan Norbäck, Mario Olivieri, Katja Radon, Jordi Sunyer, Kjell Torén, Marc Van Sprundel, Simona Villani, Manolis Kogevinas

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

113 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Objective: The authors examined the relations between self-reported work tasks, use of cleaning products and latex glove use with new-onset asthma among nurses and other healthcare workers in the European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS II). Methods: In a random population sample of adults from 22 European sites, 332 participants reported working in nursing and other related healthcare jobs during the nine-year ECRHS II follow-up period and responded to a supplemental questionnaire about their principal work settings, occupational tasks, products used at work and respiratory symptoms. Poisson regression models with robust error variances were used to compare the risk of new-onset asthma among healthcare workers with each exposure to that of respondents who reported professional or administrative occupations during the entire follow-up period (n = 2481). Results: Twenty (6%) healthcare workers and 131 (5%) members of the referent population reported new-onset asthma. Compared to the referent group, the authors observed increased risks among hospital technicians (RR 4.63; 95% CI 1.87 to 11.5) and among those using ammonia and/or bleach at work (RR 2.16; 95% CI 1.03 to 4.53). Conclusions: In the ECRHS II cohort, hospital technicians and other healthcare workers experience increased risks of new-onset current asthma, possibly due to specific products used at work.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)474-479
Number of pages6
JournalOccupational and Environmental Medicine
Volume64
Issue number7
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jul 2007
Externally publishedYes

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Occupational risk factors for asthma among nurses and related healthcare professionals in an international study'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this